A federal bill would ban wind power development in key fishing area off Maine coast

BY KAY NEUFELD

PRESS HERALD

Excerpts

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden has introduced a bill that would bar commercial offshore wind energy development in a key fishing area along the coast of Maine.

The bill would prevent the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management from potentially hurting the fishing and lobstering industries in Maine, said Golden, D-2nd District. The legislation would ban wind energy development in Lobster Management Area 1, which is the zone closest to shore and stretches along the entire coast of Maine. The bill also would launch an assessment of how federal agencies like the BOEM and the National Marine Fisheries Service study the effects of offshore wind development and engage with industry groups.

Maine has a long, complex relationship with such attempts to harness the power of distant sea breezes to generate electricity.

There are currently a variety of plans across the state to create both public and private offshore wind farms. The Governor's Energy Office wants to lease a site 45 miles from Portland in the Gulf of Maine to create the nation's first floating offshore wind research site.

A developer also is working with University of Maine researchers to build a commercial-size floating wind turbine off the coast of Maine. And the Governor's Energy Office is thinking about turning a portion of Sears Island, off Searsport, into a center for assembling and servicing wind turbines.

However, the attempts all require a massive build-out of the state's infrastructure. Wind turbines would have to float in the Gulf of Maine because the waters are too deep to allow the structures to be anchored to the seabed. And an attempt to build a commercial-size floating wind turbine project might be scrapped because it's too large, complicated and expensive........................................

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Fishermen and lobstermen are concerned about how planting wind turbines amid prime waters will affect the state's catch. While Searsport Town Manager James Gillway has said the proposed Sears Island project stands to economically benefit Searsport, the island's conservation group and other environmental groups worry about protecting the island.

And Gov. Janet Mills, historically a vocal supporter of wind energy, is simultaneously supporting and pushing back on a variety of wind-port endeavors. Mills is currently charting a "roadmap" for Maine's offshore wind power development in order to meet the state's current climate goal: 100% renewably produced energy by 2040. She's behind the proposed projects from the Governor's Energy Office.

All the while, Mills has promised to veto a bill she previously endorsed. It would review the potential visual impacts of wind ports, and, in turn, advance the process of wind-farm development. But Mills has changed course because of a recent amendment to add a requirement for project labor agreements in wind port construction.

Mills also joined Golden and the

Virginia Olsen, a commercial lobsterman, and director of the Maine Lobstering Union, says a majority of Maine fishing and lobstering is concentrated in Lobster Management Area 1.

"I think this is the exclusion zone that the Maine Lobster Union and the area that the (Maine Lobstermen's Association) would agree is most important economically to the fishery," Golden said.

The BOEM has been drawing up and reviewing plans for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine since last August, following a decade of scientific and commercial interest. The current plan stands to lease 9.9 million acres for commercial wind-power production and allow turbines to take root in a handful of regions, including LMA 1...............................Mills also joined Golden and the rest of Maine's congressional delegation - Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent - in signing a June 12 letter urging the Bureau of Ocean Management to exclude federally defined lobstering waters from offshore wind development plans...................

.........................."Our biggest concern is if the state moves forward with an agreement to leave LMA 1 out, we want to make sure that the federal government also follows suit and complies with that," Golden said.

The agency's call for public input ended on June 12. It's unclear when the BOEM is expected to announce any decisions. The agency declined to comment on the bill...........................

Read the full article at:

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/06/23/a-federal-bill-could-ban-off... maine/#:~:text=Updated%20June%2023-,A%20federal%20bill%20would%20ban%20wind%20power%20development%20in%20key,stretches%20along%20the%20entire%20coast.

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